I recently met with a large, very eco minded client and I brought up our
Globe Guard 100% recycled (PCW) corrugated boxes. She became very interested and indicated she had some doubts about the boxes her current supplier was delivering to her company. The boxes were being touted as "up to 50% recycled content". We agreed that phrase was carefully crafted for maximum flexibility and minimal responsibility. That specific claim really guaranteed nothing in terms of
quantity of recycled content and also did not provide any indication of what type
quality of waste is being used to make her boxes.
Not All Sustainable Packaging Is Created Equal
This is not an isolated case. Now that the world is going green, suppliers of packaging products are doing everything they can to put an acceptable if not deceptive green spin on their current products. Being in the business I tend to notice these things and have seen corrugated boxes with large logos printed on them that say something like: "100% recyclable" Don't most people know that
all corrugated is 100% recyclable? Is this a statement that is provide to remind the customer of the box's recyclability? Or is it intentionally deceptive because many people assume that "recyclable" and "recycled" are interchangeable terms? I can tell you that numerous times, I have met customers who thought their boxes were made of recycled content and were not.